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If you’ve ever enjoyed a role-playing game then you know how classes work. It’s simple, right? At the start of the game you choose what class you want to be, and that decision shapes how you experience the rest of the game. It’s a familiar way of doing things.

It’s…well, it’s a little boring.

Free-to-play MMORPG Skyforge does things differently. This is, after all, a game where you play as an immortal being, sworn to defend the world of Aelion, ascending to godhood along the way. Do you think gods let themselves be restricted in what they can do and when? Not likely. And that’s why Skyforge doesn’t force you to create multiple alternate characters in order to try everything in the game. You start the game with three classes, but 12 more can be unlocked as you progress through the game. Pass the temple for a new class, cash in some Sparks of Transformation, and you get a whole new set of toys to play with. No need to start over. Each class simply becomes another aspect of your godlike power. Pretty cool.

No need to start over to enjoy a new character class

Let’s say you want to get up close and personal with your enemies. You’ll want to switch to a melee class, like the chainsword-wielding Berserker or the ninja-style Slayer. Or maybe you want to be a little more graceful? Opt for the Monk class, and go to work with your Weightstone staff. If you’d rather just suck the life right out of your foes, the recently added Revenant class is the one for you. These hulking vampiric warriors were banished from Aelion by the immortals, but have now come to an uneasy truce, fighting alongside their former oppressors in a quest for death or glory (or maybe both).

And that’s just the melee classes. If ranged combat is more your style, maybe try being a Gunner, with a Hand Cannon that works as machine gun, plasma rifle and missile launcher all in one. Purists can go for the Archer class instead and rain down fire, electric and smoke arrows, or just go full gunslinger with the Outlaw class. If that's not your thing, lets say you want to throw around some magical energy attacks. Skyforge has no fewer than four classes offering different ways to do just that. Play as a Witch or Warlock and you can curse enemies, and summon creatures to fight for you. Kinetics, on the other hand, use powerful shockwave gauntlets to attack with the melee-style Sledgehammer or a long distance Stone Spear. Cryomancers use advanced technology to freeze enemies solid, but the truly brutal will opt for the Necromancer class – raising the dead, draining life force, or just transforming into a terrible lich.

A totally new free-to-play expansion pack is available right now

And we haven’t even got into the tank qualities of Knights and Paladins, the support functions of mad scientist-style Alchemists and angelic Lightbinders, and there’s already another new class to try: Overgrowth, the latest expansion for the game, gives you the chance to experience battle as a new class: the powerful Grovewalker. These powerful fighters can swap between their human and floral forms and are ideal for handling large numbers of enemies in either guise.

While in human form the Grovewalker Blooming attack is one that can turn the tide of battle. Not only does it shoot organic acid at your foes, but more deadly acid-spitting flowers sprout in its wake and these also attack nearby enemies for up to ten seconds. Combine this with Tessa’s Call to boost the flower’s strength, then use Tessa’s Call again to detonate the flowers causing massive area of effect damage. If crowd control is more important, use Breath of the Forest to push enemies back, and Nature’s Grip to lash them in place with crushing vines.

While the Grovewalker human form works best at range, sometimes you just need to lay the smackdown, and that’s when you transform into the Living Armor form. Now suitably protected by bark-like skin, you can use Living Missile to hurl yourself at groups of enemies, delivering punishing damage when you strike. The effect is amplified if you use Shield of Thorns at the same time, reflecting any damage back at enemies and protecting you from harm. If you do find yourself wounded, the Touch of Life skill recharges your health for six seconds – a priceless ability in larger fights.

As you can see, the Grovewalker is more than just a damage-dealing tank, and more than another healing mage. They’re an amazing combination of the two, and a great example of the sort of unique experiences Skyforge offers.

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